Unscrambling the budget

Sunday, April 24, 2011 | 2:05 a.m.

Democratic leaders in the Legislature have taken a different approach to the state budget this year. Normally, hearings are held by committees, where the budgets are scrutinized and discussed. But leaders in the Assembly and Senate are calling their entire membership into sessions as “committees of the whole” to hash out the budget.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said the move was intended to “allow for open and frank dialogue.”

Republicans dismissed the plan as a “dog-and-pony” show. They’ve claimed the hearings are designed to embarrass lawmakers by making them vote on controversial budget cuts, and things have gotten testy during the hearings.

The hearings do force lawmakers to cast votes they might not otherwise make, but how is it a dog-and-pony show to have every lawmaker take a stand on budget issues? Isn’t that the way government is supposed to work?

Considering that Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval has proposed drastic cuts to schools and services to close a deficit of more than $2 billion, there should be a thorough discussion of the budget.

Lawmakers don’t have to agree on everything, nor do the Legislature and the governor, but they should agree that more debate is good. There will always be wrangling over which programs to support or cut, but lawmakers should take a stand. Unfortunately, too many budget decisions are made without much discussion and often decisions are shrouded in the political spin and disingenuous arguments. For example:

• Too many people have tried to compare the state budget to a family’s checkbook. They say a family would “tighten its belt” if its income dropped. It’s an analogy the anti-tax crowd uses. Of course, they leave out the fact that most families would look for ways to raise income, maybe a second job or a different job. But that ruins the analogy, doesn’t it?

• Block grants have been the rage recently in state governments. Sandoval has proposed them in a plan that would give local governments and schools greater ability to make decisions. That sounds great, except that the block grants would provide a way for the governor to cut the budget. So what decision do local officials get to make? How they can do more with less?

• Past governors and the Legislature have raided local government funds to balance the state budget, and Sandoval’s budget is no different. For a governor who campaigned as being fiscally responsible, how does this work? The state can’t balance its books so it takes money from the schools? To use the family analogy, wouldn’t that be like dad like cracking the children’s piggy banks as a quick fix to balance the checkbook?

• For the layman, the budget process can be maddening. There are cuts that aren’t really cuts and there is spending that isn’t spending. And politicians often disagree over basic numbers, which aren’t always all that basic. Is it a 10 percent cut or a 23 percent cut? It depends on who is telling it. The Legislature and the governor should explain the budget so a layman can understand it, providing explanations for how they calculate budget numbers and cuts.

• The consequences of budget cuts should be clear. If medical clinics are going to close or fewer people will receive Medicaid, say so. It’s also fair to explain how cuts might be mitigated, but the consequences shouldn’t be ignored.

A full and open debate should be encouraged and conducted in a way that taxpayers can understand it. And lawmakers should make their views known. If they are embarrassed by a vote, perhaps they should reconsider their positions.